about

For several years it has been the desire of the 77s to perpetrate upon our adoring public an album consisting of all our unreleased demos, dead dogs, weak sisters, failed experiments and/or otherwise brilliant material (depending upon your point of view) which somehow or other never saw the light of day. After our idea was stolen right out from under us by R.E.M. (who scored the biggest-selling album of their career up to that point with Dead Letter Office) and other ‘prattle & scum’ers, we knew it was high time to grant amnesty internationally to these ‘lil MIAs and POWs once and for all.

contact / help

Come on let me in
I swear I'll be your only friend
And I will get down on my knees for you
And if I could
You know I would do anything at all
To get you near today
Hear me say

You're more than money
More than glory
More than I could ever hope to say
You're more than beauty
More than mystery
More than now
More than yesterday

Take me to your heart
'Cuz there is where we make it start
And I will get down on my knees for you
And pay the price
Sacrifice
Do anything at all to melt your soul on ice
Realize

You're more than money
More than glory
More than I could ever hope to say
You're more than beauty
More than mystery
More than now
More than yesterday

More than a lover
More than a friend
More than a talent
More than a trend
More than a mystery
More than a dance
More than your history
More than romance
More than your politics
More than your plans
More than a sure thing
More than a chance
More than your weakness
More than your strength
More than completeness
More than fragments

Track Name: Nowhere Else

Hey Na Na
Hey Na Na

There is nowhere else I'd rather be
Than in your heart
There is nowhere else I wanna be
But in your eyes
In your arms

The moon blew through the valley
Carried away the clouds
The stars seem so much brighter this night
Orion's belt is shinin'
The big dipper's upside down
Over us it's pourin' out it's light

You slip your arms around me
Draw me to your side
The full moon's shinin' so clear
Is that music in the distance?
For a moment of time
There is nowhere else but here

There is nowhere else I'd rather be
Than in your heart
There is nowhere else I wanna be
But in your eyes
In your arms

I could walk across the desert
Build my own oasis
Where the palm trees shade me from the sun
I could swim across the ocean
Find a desert island
But your arms would always draw me back home

There is nowhere else I'd rather be
Than in your heart
There is nowhere else I wanna be
But in your eyes
In your arms

Hey Na Na Hey Na Na
There is nowhere else I'd rather be
There is nowhere else I wanna be

Track Name: This Is The Way Love Is

When I gave up, you held up
When I ran out, you filled me up
When I kept runnin', you kept up
When I let you down you lifted me up

This is the way love is

When I couldn't find the words, you understood
When I didn't find the time, you were in no hurry
When I wouldn't make ends meet, you tied them together
When I cheated you kept to the rules

Well, this is the way love is
This is the way love is
When it's a one-sided double-minded mirror with no reflection

When I was keepin' it in, you were givin' out
When I was losin' out, you'd let me come back
When I was holdin' back, you were holdin' on
When I was losin' my cool you were keepin' your love warm

Well, this is the way love is
This is the way love is
When it's a one-sided double-minded mirror with no reflection

When I kept it all to myself like a miser holds on to his last dime
When I closed up myself like a desperate hand on a lifeline
Well I was bled, I was dried, all wrapped up in my pride
This is the way it is when you're on the wrong side

Well, this is the way love is
This is the way love is
When it's a one-sided double-minded mirror with no reflection

Track Name: Perfect Blues

Why doncha git up
Git up next to me
Why doncha git up
Git up next to me
If ya git up close enough to me, baby
You won't like what you see

Why doncha hang around
Hang around around me
Why doncha hang out, baby
Hang out with me
Sooner or later you'll get sick of me, baby
Sick of me I guarantee

I fill up with gas
My light's might glow
Wind me up but I'll never never go
No no no no no I won't go
I only got one gear and that's reverse, baby
I'm in the fast lane moving slow

You can break me
You can shake me
But you won't change me
That I know
You can break me break me break me break me
But you won't change me
That I know
I'm only one bad apple but
I've spoiled a whole bunch
I'm rotten to the core

Well you keep on looking, baby
You ain't gonna find what you're looking for
Keep on looking looking looking looking
Ain't gonna find what you're looking for
Some kinda perfect man that you can worship, baby
He ain't on this earth anymore

Give it up
Forget it, babe, it won't work
Give it up give it up
Forget it, babe, it won't work
You're looking for a perfect boy or girl?
Forget it baby
We're all jerks

Track Name: Don't, This Way

Imagine
All our years together
Like a blackbird that won't sing
Imagine
Throwing it to the air
But it falls from broken wings

Don't leave this way, so many words unsaid
Don't lie this way, stretched straight from
Feet to head

Imagine
The sky is pouring down
On the back of all those years
Imagine
That bird helpless on the ground
Shot down by all those tears

Here we are
A floor and a ceiling
One two three four walls
And an empty feeling
Even when the bodies are everywhere
Even when the talk's so loud you have to shout
Loneliness is staring me in the face
Tryin' to get out of bein' in has left me inside out

(And if it weren't for you
I'm sure that I'd be
A pessimistic man
In search and lonely
Wondering what to do
And why to do it)

Lousy jokes
And out & out lying
'Bout somebody else's bad luck
Bad taste
Bad timing
Somebody always tries to get a laugh
From losers in this system of give and take
Can't decide what this party's all about
Is it a celebration
Or just some kind of personal wake?

(And if it weren't for you
I'm sure that I'd be
A pessimistic man
In search and lonely
Wondering what to do
And why to do it)

You walked in the room
(And people seem to get a retrospective look in their eye)
You walked in the room
(Like if only they had known, they would've prepared a disguise)
You walked in the room
(Ain't it funny how your presence always comments on our secret lives)
You walked in the room
You walked in the room

Track Name: The Days To Come

Something tells me that we'll come out of this
With a healing compassion or a scarring bitterness
Don't revive painful times, let them rest
Don't drag a net through the sea of forgetfulness

The cut was deep, the blood was warm
I can't deny what it's done
But if we don't release the past
We'll slap the face of the days to come

There's a hand at the door refusing to leave
Its pulse is throbbing, its heart on its sleeve
It's a new tomorrow waiting to be received
By somebody ready and willing to believe

The cut was deep, the blood was warm
I can't deny what it's done
But if we don't release the past
We'll slap the face of the days to come

Remember this melody
Don't ever let it go away
Sing it to your heart
Day after day after day

The cut was deep, the blood was warm
I can't deny what it's done
But if we don't release the past
We'll slap the face of the days to come

Track Name: God Sends Quails

You fail
You try half-hearted and fail
One foot drags behind you
One foot tripping in front of you

You fail
You spit out manna, God sends quails
Dry bones pile up behind you
More wet mirages in front of you

You can't go back
You can't go back

You failed
You sunk like Jonah to the whale
Big mouths follow behind you
Still small voice swallowed up by you

You failed
You picked the right time to fail
Got your past behind you
Got your future in front of you

You can't go back
You can go on

You failed
You picked the right time to fail

Got your past behind you
Got your future in front of you

You can't go back
You can go on

You can't go back
You can go on

You can't go back
You can go on

Track Name: Love Without Dreams

One more question before you're out the door
Can you believe in me the way I believe in you?
Without dreams our love can come to nothin'
Without love our dreams won't come true

Okay
Say no with your lips
But someday
Say yes with your heart
Well, you can't have love without dreams
And you've got to have some dreams this side of paradise
No, you can't have love without dreams
And you can't see your dreams without payin' the price
You can't have love without dreams

You thought you had some dreams, maybe
But they were just petty illusions
They were strings wound up one at a time
Into a ball of confusion

So, okay
Say no with your lips
But someday
Say yes with your heart
Well, you can't have love without dreams
And you've got to have some dreams this side of paradise
No, you can't have love without dreams
And you can't see your dreams without payin' the price
You can't have love without dreams

Okay
Say no with your lips
But someday
Say yes with your heart

Track Name: Do It For Love (Demo)

Take back
All those things you said
When you were tired of living
Hold on
To the dreams we shared
They were so easy to believe in
Turn back
From the way you're goin'
It's a rocky road for sure
Lift up your heart to heaven
Dream this dream with me once more

Do it for love
Do it for love

Tell me how to love you
Let me know what I've been missing
Don't walk out of this life again
You've got me, You've got this love
This world in your hand

Do it for love
Do it for love

And I can see a time
when we will dare to laugh
At all these ghosts that haunt us
Hey, that day we'll say we did it
Did it for love

Track Name: The Lust, The Flesh, The Eyes & The Pride Of Life (Demo)

Well, I feel
Like I have to feel
Something good all of the time
With most of life I cannot deal
But a good feeling I can feel
Even though it may not be real
And if a person, place or thing can deliver
I will quiver with delight
But will it last me for all my life
Or just one more lonely night

The lust, the flesh
The eyes
And the pride of life
Drain the life
Right out of me

Well, I see something and I want it
Bam! Right now!
No questions asked
Don't worry how much it costs me now or later
I want it and I want it fast
I'll go to any length
Sacrifice all that I already have
And all that I might get
Just to get
Something more that I don't need
And Lord, please don't ask me what for

The lust, the flesh
The eyes
And the pride of life
Drain the life
Right out of me

And I love when folks
Look right at me
And what I'm doing
Or have done
And lay it on about
How groovy I am
And that I'm looking grand
And every single word
Makes me think I'll live forever
Never knowing that they probably
Won't remember what they said tomorrow
Tomorrow I could be dead

The lust, the flesh
The eyes
And the pride of life
Drain the life
Right out of me

Track Name: Pearls Before Swine (Demo)

He put it out
It meant nothing in the world to him so
He put it out
His hunger needed some attention so
He laid it out
Swapped it all for a bowl of pork and beans
And he got put out
Left for poor
By a man of means

Esau, you sod
You gave it away
Esau, you sought it with tears
Couldn't get it back again

She put it out
He put the heat on and she got too hot so
She put it out
Gives in a little
But she's giving him a lot and she lays it out
She's showing all her prized possessions to him and
She's putting out
She's swapping everything for what he's putting in but
Her lamp goes out
She didn't notice the light was growing dim and then
He goes out
And he takes everything that she had
With him

Tamar babe
You shoulda run away
Tamar babe
You saw it coming
Did you have to stay and play
Tamar babe!
Where was your head that day
Tamar, He took your best and left
You left it too late
Too late
Too late
Too late
Too late

I'm getting tired of walking up every floor
I'm getting tired of waking up anymore
But there's a hope now and there wasn't before
I got no money and I got no time
I fall down every mountain I try to climb
But peace of heart is better than peace of mind

I've got a bottom line
Oh yeh
I've got a bottom line
Oh yeh
I've got a bottom line
Oh no

You take one look at me and you wanna walk
'Cuz there's no good in me and I shouldn't talk
But I've got everything though nothing at all
I wasn't looking for what it was I found
Myself standing on some holy ground
I couldn't stand it and I had to sit down

Wanted the impossible
Looked for the impossible
The impossible found me first

I've got a bottom line
Oh yeh
I've got a bottom line
Oh yeh
I've got a bottom line
Oh no

I've got a bottom line
Oh yeh
I've got a bottom line
Oh yeh
I've got a bottom line
Oh no

Track Name: Problem Girl (Demo)

She just can't cope with performance anxiety
A figment of an imaginative society
She's a tramp enamored by extravagance
She will jump at the beat of a new romance

What you gonna do with that problem girl
What you gonna say when it starts to grow
Is it mental, physical, moral or spiritual
What you gonna say when it starts to show

She regrets what she does
But she knows that she can't change time
She wants to go to heaven when she dies
A victim of merciless self-scrutiny
The captain and the sailor trapped in a mutiny

What you gonna do with that problem girl
What you gonna say when it starts to grow
Is it mental, physical, moral or spiritual
What you gonna say when it starts to show

Tell them that it's genius trapped by a mediocre imagination
Tell that that it's guilt trying to break out of innocence
It's a grand ruse baby that can't be save by a sense of humor
It's a lot of time put in and no worthwhile experience

What you gonna do with that problem girl
What you gonna say when it starts to grow
Is it mental, physical, moral or spiritual
What you gonna say when it starts to show

Track Name: Cross the City Sky (Demo)

Wheels of progress turn
Spokes of passion burning
Engines winding out
Brakes are all but failing
Dragging each other on motorized need

I count this life of mine
A worn out, old disguise
A pale sienna sunset across a city sky

Searching with electrified fingertips
For that television living
Change a channel
Change your wife
Trying to put color into black and white

I count this life of mine
A worn out, old disguise
A pale sienna sunset across a city sky

Eye unsatisfied with seeing
Ear unsatisfied with hearing
Hand unsatisfied with holding
Mind unsatisfied with knowing
Danger: radiation
Egotistical fallout
Explosions out of atoms
Living out of dreams
In the end the elements are nothing that we need

I count this life of mine
A worn out, old disguise
A pale sienna sunset across a city sky

Track Name: Walk Through the Door (Demo)

Look long at your tomorrows
Yesterday has left a clue
There's but one door we can follow
Check your pulse then walk on through

Don't talk about the mountain
Til you climb it's peak
Don't talk about the holy book
Til you hear it speak

Don't talk about no foreign lands
Til you walk their shore
Don't talk about the other room
Til you walk through the door

Walk through the door

Track Name: You Don't Scare Me (Live)

If I'm walking in the dark
You don't scare me
Killer chasing me thru the park
You don't scare me
I could ride on a plane
Losing all its engines
Heading straight down the drain
I don't care, I don't care
I don't care, I don't care
Cuz I know, no you don't
You don't scare me

Go for a drive and hit a rock
You don't scare me
Lightning bolt give me a lethal shock
You don't scare me
I could fall down the stairs
Or get stabbed at the fair
I won't fear, I won't fear
I won't fear, I won't fear
Cuz I know, that you don't
You don't scare

Why should I go the wrong way
Down a one way street
Against the Heat
When in one moment you could
Turn my up-to-date to obsolete
And your indiscreet
And you don't repeat
And you're beat beat beat
You're so beat

Yea though I walk
Through the valley
Of your shadow so near
I will fear no man
I will fear no woman
I will fear no pain
I will fear no thing
Cuz you don't
No you don't scare me

Here we are
A floor and a ceiling
One two three four walls
And an empty feeling
Even when the bodies are everywhere
Even when the talk's so loud you have to shout
Loneliness is staring me in the face
Tryin' to get out of bein' in has left me inside out

(And if it weren't for you
I'm sure that I'd be
A pessimistic man
In search and lonely
Wondering what to do
And why to do it)

Lousy jokes
And out & out lying
'Bout somebody else's bad luck
Bad taste
Bad timing
Somebody always tries to get a laugh
From losers in this system of give and take
Can't decide what this party's all about
Is it a celebration
Or just some kind of personal wake?

(And if it weren't for you
I'm sure that I'd be
A pessimistic man
In search and lonely
Wondering what to do
And why to do it)

You walked in the room
(And people seem to get a retrospective look in their eye)
You walked in the room
(Like if only they had known, they would've prepared a disguise)
You walked in the room
(Ain't it funny how your presence always comments on our secret lives)
You walked in the room
You walked in the room

Track Name: What Was In That Letter (Live)

It's amazing
What words can do
Give your eyes a sparkle
Turn you inside out
You washed in those words
You sewed them in the lining of your heart
They slowly seeped into your blood
And ran the course of your body

Faster than any drug
Faster than lightning
They ran to your feet
Your steps were solid
And they ran on to your hands
Your fingers weren't afraid to touch
And they ran to your lips
And they spoke so soft
Ever so softly to me

What was in that letter
That calls to me, to me, to me
What was in that letter
Straight to the very heart of me
What was in that letter
That haunts me from this distance
What was in that letter
So sure
So persistent

Why don't you open it
Read it again
Read it over again to you and me
Why don't you let every last line
Sink into our little minds
Read it again
Tear the curtain down
Pull the altar to the ground

What was in that letter
That calls to the soul of me
What was in that letter
Tenderly, sweetly
What was in that letter
That haunts me from this distance

What was in that letter

Track Name: Make A Difference Tonight (Live)

Bells buzzers sirens and horns
Ringing in my head
Bills budgets savings and loans
Always in the red

Times schedules deadlines and forms
I think I'll go crazy
Wish I could remember what it was
Like to be lazy

I'm always running out of time
I'm always standing in a line
I'm always spending every dime

Moments minutes weeks months and years
Just to end up this way
Toils trials troubles and tears
The endless price I pay

Thorns thistles thatches and tares
Tangled up in me
Gonna take much more than a man
To set me free

Why won't somebody
Tell my how to
Make a difference tonight

Track Name: Ba Ba Ba Ba (Live)

"If it works, then it must be good. If it's good, then it must be true..."

Welcome to the truth custom made
Come in and have some lemonade
Reality will readjust while we evade
The issues that are pressing us
And getting so depressing but
Undressing and unstressing
Makes them go away

We're tired of solid ground
We're wired up for sound
From any fool who'll keep us
Cool with all his lies
Cool with all his lies

Ba-ba-ba-ba
Ba-ba-ba-ba
We believe, we believe
Cuz we felt it burning in our hearts
Ba-ba-ba-ba
Ba-ba-ba-ba
And it's true, yes it's true
If it gets us all thru the night
For the rest of our lives

If there's a master race, we're one
And if by chance they drop the bomb
The heat will never find us
Cuz we've learned to run
No absolutes to spoil our time
So we won't have to change our minds
Just hope that we won't die
While we're still in our prime

Track Name: I Could Laugh (Live)

Mama don't understand
she wants to hold my hand
Night and day
She don't like my clothes
They're wearing thin
On her nerves
She don't like my hair
My glorious crown
Brings her down
She won't take me serious
Think I'll join the circus
Be a clown

And they'll all laugh
They'll all laugh
They'll all laugh
But it's not funny
No

I'm restless
Wanna bust out of my skin
Got a rocket
In my pocket
Got no fuel
No charted course
Got no direction
No, they did not give me those in school
Yes, I've been a fool for cool
But no kind of hair, no shoes, no jackets
Gonna help me hack it, hack it
Hack it to pieces, man
I've had it
And you can have it

Chorus

Well, I wonder what will
Get me off
So I pick and choose and take
And in a couple years
You're right
I'm left
With a great big heartache
So deep and wide
That no matter what
I stuff inside
It's empty
Just the way it came
It's a crying shame
But all the same

Chorus

Should I recall
All the people I have hurt
Along the way
And should I try
To justify
Every wrong I did not right
But two wrongs don't make it right
And so it keeps me up at night
And I lie awake
And while away the meanwhile
And meanwhile......
Meanwhile I dwell
On the baby that I killed
Or the drink I should have not refilled
And every heart I broke in 2
And left to die
Bleeding on the roadside
Or I could sit
And let my eyes
fill with mist
For every girl that
I should not have kissed
And all the broken family ties
The loved ones
I have missed
Yes, I have mist in my eyes
And so I cry
But why should I should I

Chorus

And everything I've got
I'm gonna lose
Both good and bad
Will pass
And what next
What lies
Beyond the broken dreams
And shattered mirrors
I keep looking in
To check my luck
Or skill
But only pride keeps staring back
And stil I laugh
Still
I laugh

And none of this, of course,
Will stand
When I stand before the man
On that great day
Of the great divide
When all the kings and queens
Will have their closets emptied
And the bones will all fall out
'Dem bones 'dem bones 'dem dry bones
Will not fail
Dead men will tell tales

And you can laugh
And I can laugh
And we can laugh
But it's not funny

Track Name: This Is The Way Love Is (Demo)

When I gave up, you held up
When I ran out, you filled me up
When I kept runnin', you kept up
When I let you down you lifted me up

This is the way love is

When I couldn't find the words, you understood
When I didn't find the time, you were in no hurry
When I wouldn't make ends meet, you tied them together
When I cheated you kept to the rules

Well, this is the way love is
This is the way love is
When it's a one-sided double-minded mirror with no reflection

When I was keepin' it in, you were givin' out
When I was losin' out, you'd let me come back
When I was holdin' back, you were holdin' on
When I was losin' my cool you were keepin' your love warm

Well, this is the way love is
This is the way love is
When it's a one-sided double-minded mirror with no reflection

When I kept it all to myself like a miser holds on to his last dime
When I closed up myself like a desperate hand on a lifeline
Well I was bled, I was dried, all wrapped up in my pride
This is the way it is when you're on the wrong side

Well, this is the way love is
This is the way love is
When it's a one-sided double-minded mirror with no reflection

Track Name: God Sends Quails (Early Production Version)

You fail
You try half-hearted and fail
One foot drags behind you
One foot tripping in front of you

You fail
You spit out manna, God sends quails
Dry bones pile up behind you
More wet mirages in front of you

You can't go back
You can't go back

You failed
You sunk like Jonah to the whale
Big mouths follow behind you
Still small voice swallowed up by you

You failed
You picked the right time to fail
Got your past behind you
Got your future in front of you

You can't go back
You can go on

You failed
You picked the right time to fail

Got your past behind you
Got your future in front of you

You can't go back
You can go on

You can't go back
You can go on

You can't go back
You can go on

Track Name: You Don't Scare Me (Live) *BANDCAMP EXCLUSIVE*

If I'm walking in the dark
You don't scare me
Killer chasing me thru the park
You don't scare me
I could ride on a plane
Losing all its engines
Heading straight down the drain
I don't care, I don't care
I don't care, I don't care
Cuz I know, no you don't
You don't scare me

Go for a drive and hit a rock
You don't scare me
Lightning bolt give me a lethal shock
You don't scare me
I could fall down the stairs
Or get stabbed at the fair
I won't fear, I won't fear
I won't fear, I won't fear
Cuz I know, that you don't
You don't scare

Why should I go the wrong way
Down a one way street
Against the Heat
When in one moment you could
Turn my up-to-date to obsolete
And your indiscreet
And you don't repeat
And you're beat beat beat
You're so beat

Yea though I walk
Through the valley
Of your shadow so near
I will fear no man
I will fear no woman
I will fear no pain
I will fear no thing
Cuz you don't
No you don't scare me